


Ymweld

by yeaka



Category: The Black Cauldron (1985)
Genre: Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:27:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25683520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: A quick epilogue.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Ymweld

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own The Black Cauldron or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Hen Wen wanders to the very tip of the hill and plops down square in the center of it, nestling in amongst the daisies and clovers, snug atop the grass. Freshly damp with morning dew, it prickles deliciously. The air is crisp, clean, and full of the floral scent of spring. It’s a beautiful day, but Hen Wen saw even _more_ beautiful things in the water Taran brought her last week. 

Today it’s going to happen. She’s been bristling with anticipation ever since. Even Taran’s noticed. He’s laughed and asked her so many times what has her so excited, and she truly wishes she could tell him, because he would be even so delighted. And he might clean up and brush his hair. But alas, for all her many gifts, human speech isn’t one of them. Sometimes she _understands_ him when he talks to her, him and usually only him, but it’s not the words—it’s the images his noises put in her mind. She can see glorious things in his future, and some dark things too, but nothing so grave as the terror’s he’s already faced. She’s prouder of him every day. 

But she can’t explain to him that _wondrous things_ are coming just over the hill, so she goes out and sits alone, enjoying the cool breeze and watching the horizon. 

A dancing bird flutters above the tree tops, calling out as two more join it. Then she hears the footsteps—no, the clatter of many hooves—growing louder as they near, until it’s almost thunderous, and Hen Wen can feel the ground quake beneath her. An army of horses bursts through the nearest opening, and for a split second, she tenses and almost squeals. She has awful memories of big, hulking beasts that towered over her. But these horses are no crueler than Dallben’s goats. They break in a circle around her, until the final one rides up: a glorious black stallion with a rider so much taller than last time. 

As the horses gallop to a stop, the last rider dismounts—her slender frame swings down with grace and poise. It’s been a year since she’s been back, and her hair’s grown, her dress filled out, her eyes as wide and pretty as they were the first time Hen Wen saw her. Hen Wen liked her then and still does now. She smiles wide, bursting with human affection, and rushes forward, even though all the other travelers that stop by the farm pay Hen Wen no mind. Princess Eilonwy ducks down and opens up her arms, gathering Hen Wen up into a warm embrace. 

Hen Wen lets herself be pulled into Eilonwy’s lap. She’s grown bigger herself—fatter and rounder, her hide a little rougher than it used to be and her tail a little longer, but Eilonwy seems to have gotten stronger too, because she makes no comment on the weight. She simply pets Hen Wen’s head and coos, “Oh, it’s good to see you again, Hen. It’s been too long, hasn’t it?”

Hen Wen nods vigorously—a trait picked up from watching Taran. Eilonwy hums like she understands. She’s the only other human on the face of the earth besides Taran and Dallben that Hen Wen’s ever understood. But she could tell from the beginning that Eilonwy was _special_.

Taran thinks so too. He’ll be pleased to see her, and that pleases Hen Wen. Hen Wen squeals and tumbles off Eilonwy’s knees, trotting towards the cottage. 

Eilonwy laughs and follows, until Taran runs out to greet her.


End file.
